Moon Of Liberty Weekend Soccerround

Soccer

League 2

Mansfield Town remain in fifth place after a 0-0 draw against a dogged Cambridge. Mitch Rose had three chances for the Stags in the second half but despite being in control of the game they could not find the breakthrough. Notts County also got a point after a late fightback at Meadow Lane against Grimsby. Shaun Pearson and Omar Bogle had put the Mariners 2-0 up, but late goals from Jonathan Forte and Aaron Collins on 88 minutes earned county the draw, they are now four games unbeaten.

Blackpool move back into mid table after a solid 3-0 at Yeovil. all the goals came in the second half after a poor first.Colin Daniel opened the scoring with a long range drive and added a second getting on the end of a Brad Potts cross. Armand Gnaduillet sealed the points tapping in a third. Blackpool could have had more but after a recent bad run, will take this strong showing.

National League

It was a poor day for all three of the Moon’s National League sides. a 3rd minute goal from Ricky Modeste saw Southport just one place off the bottom as they lost 1-0 to Dover. Tranmere Rovers suffered their first defeat of the season at Aldershot. Andy Cook had equalised Bernard Mensah’s early goal. The game moved Aldershot’s way when Scott Rendall slotted home a penalty with 13 minutes to go and Will Evans with a volley sealed a 3-1 win for the hosts.

Tranmere’s defeat gave Forest Green the chance to go top against Chester. Liam Noble’s free kick out wide deceived everyone to give Forest Green the lead and Darren Carter made it 2-0. Elliott Durrell got one back for Chester with 11 minutes left but there was to be no equaliser. Forest Green leapfrog Tranmere to go top.

Iron Bru Cup 3rd Round

Queen Of The South cruised through their Iron Bru Cup tie with Stenhousemuir. Dale Hilson and Grant Anderson had the Doonhammers 2-0 up in 10 minutes and they never looked back. Even without the in form Lyndon Dykes they were too good on the day, Stephen Dobbie and Derek Lyle added more misery on Stenhousemuir before the break. Dobbie grabbed another shortly after the second half began and a brace from Steven Rigg rounded of the Queens scoring. Alan Cook got a late consolation for the visitors as Queens make it five wins in a row in all competitions completing a 7-1 win.

Reports (BBC Sport)

Mansfield  Notts County  Blackpool  Southport  Chester  Tranmere  

Queen Of The South Report (qosfc.com)

________________________________________________________________

MOON OF LIBERTY SOCCER SCOREBOARD

SOCCER RESULTS

League 2

Yeovil Town (0) 0  – Blackpool (0) 3 (Daniel 2, Gnanduillet) – At Huish Park, Yeovil

Notts County (0) 2 (Forte, Collins) – Grimsby Town (1) 2 (Pearson, Bogle) – At Meadow Lane, Nottingham

Mansfield Town (0) 0 – Cambridge United (0) 0 – At Field Mill, Mansfield

National League

Chester City (0) 1 (Durrell) – Forest Green Rovers (0) 2 (Noble, Carter) – At The Diva Stadium, Chester

Southport (0) 0 – Dover Athletic (1) 1 (Modeste) – At Haig Avenue, Southport

Aldershot (1) 3 (Mensah, Rendall, Evans) – Tranmere Rovers (1) 1 (Cook) – At The Recreation Ground, Aldershot

Iron Bru Cup Round 3

Queen Of The South (4) 7 (Hilson, Anderson, Dobbie 2, Lyle, Rigg 2) – Stenhousemuir (0) 1 (Cook) – At Palmerstone Park, Dumfries

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Colin Daniel (Blackpool)

________________________________________________________________

Moon Of Liberty Soccerround – League Cup Round 2

Soccer

League Cup – Round 2

Both Liverpool and Everton eased through to round 3 of the League Cup. Liverpool picked a strong side and were 2-0 up by half time through Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino. An own goal from Tom Naylor and a brace from Daniel Sturridge completed a comfortable 5-0 win. Everton passage was similarly straight forward against Yeovil with Aaron Lennon, Ross Barkley and two from Arouna Kone seeing the Toffeemen through 4-0. Blackpool could not pull off a surprise at Crystal Palace with Scott Dann and Connor Wickham getting the goals in a deserved and straight forward 2-0 win for the London side.

The Moon’s two Championship sides were involved in much tighter affairs. Jamie Paterson gave Nottingham Forest the lead at Millwall but were pegged back in the second half by Sahun Williams lob from all of 50 yards with the Forest keeper off his line. The winner came with three minutes to go as Oliver Burke set up Lars Veldwijk to thump home the winner. There was also a dramatic end at Pride Park as Mike Jones injury time strike for Carlisle equalised Darren Bent’s opener. The game went to penalties with Scott Carson saving Carlisle’s 16th penalty with the score at 13-13. Slovenian Timi Max Elsnic was the hero stepping up to score the winning penalty.

In the Third Round draw two of the Moon’s sides will meet as Derby County will host Liverpool. Champions Leicester City join in Round 3 and will be at home to Chelsea. Forest will host Arsenal while Everton have been drawn at home to Norwich City.

Full Reports (BBC Sport)

Liverpool   Everton   Forest   Derby   Blackpool

________________________________________________________________

MOON OF LIBERTY SOCCER SCOREBOARD

SOCCER RESULTS

League Cup Round 2

Burton Albion (0) 0 – Liverpool (2) 5 (Origi, Firmino, Naylor {OG}, Sturridge 2) – At The Prielli Stadium, Burton On Trent

Everton (1) 4 (Lennon, Barkley, Kone 2) – Yeovil Town (0) 0 – At Goodison Park, Liverpool

Millwall (0) 1 (Williams) – Nottingham Forest (1) 2 (Paterson, Veldwijk) – At The Den, Bermondsey, London

Derby County (0) 1 (Bent) – Carlisle United (0) 1 (Jones) – AET (Derby County Win 14-13 on Pens) – At Pride Park, Derby

Crystal Palace (1) 2 (Dann, Wickham) – Blackpool (0) 0 – At Selhurst Park, South Norwood, Croydon, London

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Arouna Kone (Everton)

________________________________________________________________

 

Moon Of Liberty Soccer Update – League 2

Soccer

League 2

Blackpool were cruelly denied an away win as Barnet snatched a point with an injury time equaliser. Mark Cullen gave the Tangerines the lead on 24 minutes with a strike from the edge of the area but a close range volley from John Akinde got the home side a point. Newport County could not take advantage of Luton going down to 10 men. Cameron McGeehan’s penalty gave the Hatters the lead, Jennison Myrie-Williams freak direct corner had brought Newport level with 20 minutes to go.Johnny Mullins was sent off for Luton in the final 10 minutes but it was the 10 men who rallied and they were awarded a second penalty in injury time which McGeehan put away for the victory for Luton.

Mansfield Town move up to third after a superb performance despite playing with 10 men for over 80 minutes after Danny Rose was sent off. His namesake Mitch Rose was brought down on 64 minutes and Matt Green put away the penalty which proved to be the winner to keep the Stags super start to the season going. In contrast Notts County’s dreadful start to the season continued as the Magpies went down 2-1 to Plymouth at Meadow Lane. Jon Stead had equalised Jake Jervis’ opener for the visitors from Devon. The winner came on 32 minutes when Nauris Bulvitis headed home a corner. County had plenty of shots but were largely wasteful and are already dangerously close to the drop zone.

Full Reports (BBC Sport)

Blackpool   Newport   Mansfield   Notts County

________________________________

MOON OF LIBERTY SOCCER SCOREBOARD

SOCCER RESULTS

League 2

Barnet (0) 1 (Akinde) – Blackpool (1) 1 (Cullen) – At The Hive Stadium, Cannons Park, Harrow, London

Notts County (1) 1 (Stead)– Plymouth Argyle (2) 2 (Jervis, Bulvitis) – At Meadow Lane, Nottingham

Mansfield Town (0) 1 (Green) – Yeovil Town (0) 0 – At Field Mill, Mansfield

Luton Town (0) 2 (McGeehan 2) – Newport County (0) 1 (Myrie-Wlliams) – At Kennilworth Road, Luton

MOON OF LIBERTY STAR MAN – Matt Green (Mansfield Town)

Moon Editorial – 2015 & the Political tales of the unexpected

2015 – Political Tales of the Unexpected

This time last year we were all looking ahead to the 2015 General Election with great uncertainty. The polls depending on how you read them could have pointed to virtually any result you like, something that continued right up until polling day, except of course a Tory overall majority, the one that actually happened. And even more than that, nobody could have predicted in the light of defeat, what the Labour Party would do next.

2015 was the year in politics where all conventional wisdom has been proved wrong and thrown out of the window. The Governing Party had not increased it’s vote share or number of seats since Anthony Eden led the Tories in 1955. This was the same party who has not won an overall majoirty since 1992, to do so in May 2015 was surely too much to ask? And surely the Liberal Democrat incumbency factor would ensure the Lib Dems are not wiped out? And the banking crash had moved the political center to the left hadn’t it? This should help Labour, even on a more left wing platform, get the win? And surely the SNP would not really sweep all before them in Scotland when it came down to it?

Wrong, wrong and wrong again.The key moment just after midnight when a pro Tory swing in Swindon came through was the moment I knew the Tories had won, probably with a majority. By now it was clear the SNP had swept Labour aside in Scotland. This was before key seats like Nuneaton and the Tories most marginal seat against Labour, North Warwickshire had been announce. Although at this point I knew what was coming through my twitter feeds and searches that both of these seats had been won by the Tories, I was also getting first indications that David Laws could lose Yeovil, and if the Lib Dems can lose Yeovil, I knew they were vulnerable almost everywhere. The majority was now probable, and so it proved.

And we end 2015 with another scenario nobody could have foreseen in regards to David Cameron himself. All the predictions this time last year were he could lose the election and if not he would be in a very awkward position by now. Even after the majority on election night, thoughts turned immediately to John Major’s small majority. Backbench troubles and a Labour party renewing itself after defeat would be causing Cameron endless problems by now wouldn’t they?.

And yet, despite some mistakes a decent Labour Party could have exploited (Tax Credits, Splits over Europe) here we are and the truth is Cameron is as safe as houses. Given he has said he will stand down before 2020 I suspect even the EU Referendum will not cause as much trouble as some suggest even if it does not go his way, he is going anyway, maybe it will force him to go a bit earlier, no big deal. He is also facing the most left wing opposition maybe in history. Many will argue they are not really an opposition at all and they would in many ways have a point. Even up until about a week before the leadership election I still believed common sense may prevail and Yvette Cooper may pull the win out of the bag. Instead Labour followed though with it’s collective Twitter led meltdown and elected Jeremy Corbyn. Nobody can be sure where that decision will leave us by the time the whole scenario plays out.

Labour are now with a leader their Parliamentary Party don’t want. They have the hard left joining in numbers and moderates leaving the party. Groups like Momentum have been formed to try and take over the party machine and see moderates out. it is said Corbyn is about to re-shuffle his Shadow Cabinet to move it further to the left to remove dissenters. Corbyn also has the full backing of the Social Media groups who supported him in September. Despite this Labour are doing very badly in local by election, are well behind in the polls and Corbyn has unprecedentedly poor personal ratings along with having given an array of terrible PMQ’s performances.  Moderates are clearly unsure what to do. Can they remove Corbyn? Should they, and can they be certain they will not unleash something much worse if they do given Corbyn’s support within the wider movement? If they don’t act soon, by 2020 will it be all too late?

There is lot’s to look forward to in 2016 politically, with lot’s of elections to come along as well. I will look ahead in another post shortly. 2015 has truly been a tale of the political unexpected. And yet as I have written about before, there were many clues there in the polls behind the headline figures, and the increased venom of the social media left in the run up to May also suggested that in terms of their response to defeat, the pointers were also available. Hindsight is of course a wonderful thing, it makes it all look so obvious in retrospect. At the time none of us saw this year coming with constant twists worthy of Roald Dahl.